30 Fairmont Park Lane S
Lethbridge, AB
T1K 7H7
Phone: (403) 328-1804
Saturday, March 19, 2005
The Editor
The Lethbridge Herald
P.O. Box 670
Lethbridge
AB, T1J 3Z7
Dear Editor:
David Suzuki, I, and Mark Sandilands have sought out and found the lowest common denominator of discussion and debate on climate change (Herald, 05/02/27, 05/03/03, 05/03/13) We’ve sunk to speculation on competing conspiracies. We should be ashamed. I am.
Basic radiation heat transfer science supports the concept of greenhouse gas warming. Water vapor and trace atmospheric greenhouse gases do warm the earth’s surface and lower atmosphere enough to be habitable. Carbon dioxide is particularly interesting as it can trap heat energy which passes to outer space through water vapor. Measurements indicate human activity has increased the quantity of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Monitoring with thermometers and satellites has not provided conclusive evidence it is causing significant warming to date. Dedicated scientists are in the process of refining and reconciling theory and measurement to come to more substantive conclusions. Others are projecting future effects and evaluating potential action to manage atmospheric carbon dioxide. That is the scientific investigation to support and understand which will determine the need for, and nature of, any effective action.
I hope we don’t forget that now that we are engaged in desperate implementation of the possibly unnecessary and fundamentally ineffective Kyoto protocol.
Yours truly,
Duane Pendergast